“My life now and before is like heaven and the earth. Incomparable!” says Guale, a 15-year-old girl in 8th grade, who aspires to be a successful business woman. Guale and her family live in Gondar, a historic Ethiopian city located 730 kilometers (454 miles) north of the capital of Addis Ababa.

Guale says, “Being the middle girl in the family, I carried a burden on my shoulder. I used to have a hectic life, filled with routine tasks expected of me. I live in a large extended family and all females in the house work tirelessly,” she says. “I would wake up as early as 4am and together with my mother, sister and niece we go to fetch water from the spring or manually dug borehole. The time we get back home is determined by the number of people who have reached there before us,” said Guale. “And once animals are out, it was difficult to get water because they make it dirty. I and my family drank this water all our life and we have always been sick for a reason we never knew until recently,” she said. Until World Vision entered the community, Guale and her family lacked clean water or an awareness about sanitation and hygiene.

Isabelle, the one smiling in the blue sweater, is 16 years old. What’s right? She is healthy. She is carrying crystal clear water from a tap just minutes from her home. She is in school. She’s among the top 5 in her class. And she is not married.

World Vision believes that ending extreme poverty is possible, but it won’t happen as long as half the population is held back from reaching their full potential. The evidence is indisputable, when girls and women get equal access and opportunity - progress is accelerated, families are stronger, and communities are more prosperous.

The reality is, women and girls living in poverty face significant barriers in every area of their lives. That’s why we focus on equipping and empowering women and girls in all areas of our work.

Sabanagrande is a small town located in the south region of Honduras. The people who live there are hard-working people. They are grateful that God’s love is present in their community. Roman Bueso and his wife Fanny Zambrano have been living in Sabanagrande for more than 20 years. They both serve as pastors at the Amor Viviente Church, which translated means, ‘living love church'. “Teaching Gods love to the youth and kids has brought peace to each person in the community,” says Pastor Roman.

A few years ago, things were different in the community. Violence and bullying surrounded the school environments, gangs and other groups started to organize in the neighborhoods, recruiting vulnerable teenagers who didn’t find love or acceptance at home. “We use to live in Tegucigalpa. But I felt in my heart, a call from God to move into this community. Because with His help, we knew that we could change lives,” Pastor Roman remembers. He decided to serve God and become a pastor when he was 35 years old.

“As a neighbor, I saw the wedding related activities and got suspicious,” says Rojina, a 16-year-old from a village in Basanti. She knew Ajmira from school and was concerned when she saw the planning going on at her home.

Ajmira confirmed her suspicions when they met in school. “My parents are forcing me to get married,” Ajmira told Rojina. Ajmira is only fourteen. This plunged Rojina into sadness. What was she to do? “Before World Vision, I did not know child marriage was wrong. But now I know, and I found out my neighbor was getting married,” says Rojina.

Rojina decided to confide in her best friend Regina, 17. Both girls are part of World Vision’s Girl Power group, which teaches girls to keep themselves and their friends safe. Regina says, “If we go directly, they won’t listen to us and they will scold us. They might even take their daughter somewhere and get her married in secret. Being a child and we are girls...will they listen to us?” This way of thinking percolates from the elders in the community to the children. A girl child is low in the “pecking order” - girls are rarely allowed to express their own thoughts or feelings, and they are not taught to speak with confidence in public settings. These cultural pressures create an environment where girls fear telling the truth or seeking help from adults. They feel helpless when they, or their friends, experience abuse through child marriage, rape or physical violence.

“When I saw these children living in desperate conditions, my heart broke and I asked their mothers if I can take them with me and raise them.” Magdalena pauses for a moment and takes a deep sigh with her head bowed down and when she raises her head up, it is clear that she is having a difficult time pushing back tears from her bright eyes. She looks at me and breaks the silence “Being a mother is a blessing, but being an abandoned single mother is the worst nightmare anyone can wish for,” she says.

The production of crops has been the mainstay for the people of Shunganu village, a small remote sandy area in Western Zambia. While many people grow cash crops as the main source of livelihood, Harriet Sikumbi, a 40-year-old widowed mother of five, has focused her energies on gardening.

Harriet is a passionate woman with a great zeal for gardening that dates back to her childhood. “I have always loved gardening. Since childhood, that is where my heart is,” she says.

Bowolicho village is located in the Hula Area Program operation area, 231 miles south of Addis Abba, Ethiopia’s capital. There was a dire need for water in this area. Schoolgirls of all ages use to walk a half hour to draw water from an unprotected source called Bansa spring.

The schoolgirls who attended school in the morning left home as early as at 6:00am and walked in a group to the unkept spring. The water they found was not safe for their health. Keeping their jerry cans in two or sometimes three lines and waiting for turn was the day to day experience for them. They walked back home for another thirty minutes and upon getting home, they cooked for family and handle other activities.

Each year, more than 3 million girls are at risk of Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting (FGM/C). February 6, the United Nations’ International Day of Zero Tolerance for Female Genital Mutilation, is a time to bring this serious issue to light.

Girls’ rights are violated and their potential crushed when they are subjected to FGM/C and have their external genitalia cut. Best estimates are that 200 million women and girls alive today have suffered FGM/C. There is no medical reason for this traditional practice, and no benefit for the girl. Girls who have been cut often experience life-long dire effects, such as pain, infections, bleeding, difficult childbirth, and incontinence.

A World Vision Child Protection Officer meets with Sabina* (r) and Kibset* (l) at Morpus School

Sabina, a 15-year-old girl in West Pokot, Kenya, has escaped a forced marriage and is working to prevent other girls from undergoing Female Genital Mutilation or Cutting. Sabina was married off immediately after undergoing FGM/C at age 13.

She recalls that sorrowful day: "I just heard from my siblings that someone was bringing beer home (a sign of people coming for a bride), and in no time I was whisked away forcefully by several men."

When their sons were seventeen and nineteen years-old, Linda and Barry Rowan organized a family meeting. Purposing to walk more intentionally with the poor, as a family, the Rowans identified the criteria that were most important to them.

World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice. World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.